After the glorious fiasco that was Nicholas Wilde's start-of-the-semester prank at Hornstein hall, the Alpha Predators decided it was only fair to treat the rebelliously gutsy Wilde to a round of beers that night at the off-campus frat house.
Things were starting off great for the fox, having received tons of kudos and respect from burly predators that beforehand, barely acknowledged him; all for masterminding a trick on so many unsuspecting freshies— even the head alpha of the fraternity, a callous hyena nicknamed Fang, had called it one of the best tricks he'd seen in a while.
Every year one of the lower ranking members were dared to creatively prank freshmen targets, and Nick seemed to pass the test with flying colors.
Just over the events of one glorious night, he already felt like he was accepted as a high ranking member of the group, being the smallest compared to the leading lions, tigers, and bears— not counting Fang, however, who was nearly the same size as the fox.
Already it was morning, the first day of classes at ZU for the fall semester.
Not that Wilde was looking forward to it. He was naturally nocturnal, after all.
Nick shook off any inklings of a hangover as he rolled out of bed with a groan. It only took him about ten minutes to freshen up and get dressed into already worn clothes, giving himself an admiring look in the mirror before he was out the door. With his tail high and swaying behind him, Nick gracefully strutted outside and onto campus proudly exhibiting his notorious jersey colors and rugged, dark green book bag slung over only one of his shoulders, a handsome look of indifference painted over his face.
Eyes were definitely on him. Mammals whispered when he passed, cliques of girls greeted him left and right, some predators saluted him, and honestly he felt like the king of the university.
About damn time.
In his newfound arrogance he disregarded anyone who he thought wasn't worth his attention, yet it only seemed to make him look like an inspiration to some—or an untouchable wannabe-prick to others. Not that he gave two shits, really.
He easily located the Wolfhartt academic building where his first class would be, and didn't bother to help any new students along the way who were clearly lost on campus. Aww, being a freshie, the good old days…
He was lucky to have knowledge of every building, nook, and cranny of the campus as well as the city since he was a local and a second year student. He knew everyone, save for any transfer or new students not from the area.
Either way Nicholas P. Wilde was a fast learner, a smooth talker, and a charmer. It wouldn't be hard to show the newbies just who he was.
Nick swiftly made his way up to the second floor and glanced into the hallway which was nearly vacant since classes had just about started. And as usual, he was technically late. Once he entered room W202, he spanned the room for a seat near the back, his typical location of choice, but instead spotted her.
The bunny girl from last night— sitting up front with her notebook and pencil out and ready, clearly excited by the look of her nerdy smile and ears standing tall. Call it fate or call it chance, the forces that be had a sense of humor the fox appreciated. She glanced at the doorway and made brief eye contact with him, their eyes meeting for a solid second.
Her expression fell almost on cue and he grinned, making his way straight towards her without deliberation.
Like a predator going in for the kill.
.o0o.
Despite the absolute freak show her and all the other hall mates experienced the night before, Judy felt somewhat rejuvenated by morning. She managed to get up on time (although the ringing of her alarm clock elicited a reaction similar to the fire alarm), get her usual optimism levels back up (with the help of some morning meditation and a cup o' joe), and felt ready to take on the world yet again.
Despite feeling quite emotional and vulnerable just hours prior she shook off any remnants of those hard feelings— there was just no way she'd let a practical joke ruin her chance to enjoy her first big day at ZU.
The well prepared sheep and bunny left their dorm for class together at 7:25 am sharp, more than half an hour before their first class would even start.
Perhaps they were being a bit overly ambitious considering they were the very first to get to the Wolfhartt building, but Judy thought nothing negatively of it. They did have to refer to the campus map and pace around to locate the building after all, considering both mammals were not familiar with the school grounds in the slightest. Judy definitely intended to change that soon.
"It doesn't hurt to be safe, am I right?" Bellwether kidded, giving Judy a bashful smile as they entered the classroom: a sizely lecture hall with rows of seats, each facing three wide chalk boards and a table. The two sat front and center and Judy began to take out her essentials: a pink spiral notebook (check), two sharpened pencils (check), carrot eraser (check).
Bellwether only brought out a thin silver laptop, a lavish accessory the bunny wasn't exactly used to seeing in classroom settings. She ogled at it for a few seconds until her roommate acknowledged the stare.
"Digital interfaces are better for the environment, you know," she stated as she polished her glasses with her navy blazer, a rather expensive-looking fabric. It didn't occur to the rabbit until now that Bellwether may have come from a wealthy family, or at least one much better off than her own. "You should really consider using yours and ditching paper all together. I'm guessing you left yours at the room?"
"Uh, whoops? Yeah… silly me, hah," Judy laughed tensely with the hope she sounded believable. She didn't own one. Just getting a cell phone as a gift from her parents was a big deal, let alone a laptop, and she didn't get it until late high school.
As the clock ticked, the room gradually filled with mammals of all kinds as the time neared the start of class. Now that she thought of it, her pink plaid button-up top and deep blue jeans weren't as fashionable as many of the other girls that flooded into the room independently or in small groups. However she tried not to become distracted by the sudden insecurity.
Internally Judy was still considerably excited and admittedly a little nervous. Her eyes ran laps between the clock and the door as she grew impatient. The room bustled with voices as animals chatted away, not too many concerned that it had just struck 8 am, and there wasn't a sign of an instructor.
Judy preoccupied herself by doodling along the margins of her paper, but every few seconds she would glance up to the classroom doors.
At the sound of the doors swinging open Judy sat upright with her head high and her ears even higher. She flashed her best smile fully expecting the professor but instead locked eyes with the last mammal she wanted to see— him.
The prankster.
God, no no please. The bunny's stomach sunk and she immediately averted her eyes to the doodles in her notebook. Did he notice her, or was that just her imagination? What's this jerk doing in criminal justice 101?
Judy could hear his footsteps, each footfall deliberately heavy, as he neared her direction. She groaned silently, her eyes fixed on the scribble of a ZPD badge with her name on it as she listened to him take the seat just behind her. Just her luck.
"I forgot to ask for your name," he divinely cooed from behind her head, leaning forward so his snout was just inches away from her. It made the bunny tense up immediately.
"Don't talk to me," she nearly hissed, not turning in her seat to face him. She figured he was wearing that stupid, shit-eating grin just like the one he wore last night. "I'm not going to entertain you."
"Aw, Carrots," he sighed playfully, comfortably leaning back in his chair. "But I'm already entertained." His voice was velvety smooth as he watched her demeanor change drastically— from dread to rage in a matter of seconds. Her ears were no longer happily perked upwards, and her shoulders even slumped a little.
Nick chuckled softly as she adjusted herself in her seat and tried her best to ignore him, but he considered it a challenge.
Without a doubt, Wilde liked to invoke emotional turmoil, and just couldn't pass up this rich opportunity to gas her fire even further.
He eyed the fluffy tail poking out from the back of her seat and decided to prop his heels up on either side of it. As sure as he was that she knew what he was doing, there was still no reaction from her. Where was the satisfaction in that? So he gave the cute bushy tail just begging to be touched a bold nudge with his foot.
Pleasantly soft, better than he expected. It even twitched in surprise beneath his toes, and he pulled away when Judy finally turned, her eyes revealing her restrained yet bubbling anger. Oh, if looks could kill.
Bellwether, who was mildly aware of the situation, glared over her shoulder at the pestering fox as well. From both of their looks he got the message, flashing his sharp teeth in an insincere apologetic smile. "Oh dear. I think my foot slipped."
"Look," Judy spoke through gritted teeth with all the patience she could muster, her eyes on the fox who tilted his head to listen. "The professor should be arriving any minute now. So stop. Or I'll make you."
He chuckled genuinely at her threat and shook his head patronizingly, "Geez Carrots, you are new. Don't you know, most college professors don't arrive on time… like ever?"
She looked at him a bit puzzled, almost appalled at the thought of tardiness being normal— for teachers, no less. Nick couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the dumbfound look on her face. "I...didn't know that," she quietly admitted, more to herself than him.
Nick shrugged. "Well, not all that surprised really…" He raised a brow. "…dumb bunny." He blissfully watched as she stiffened up, her small fists clenched on her desk.
She wanted to kill him. Right there, right then— but that would only remain a fantasy, perhaps in a Zootopia where laws didn't exist and she didn't want to be a cop. A silly thought.
She was unbelievably flustered, disregarding how close she was at snapping the pencil in her paw.
"Ignore him," Bellwether whispered to her roommate. Judy nodded stiffly, loosening her grip on the poor pencil she strangled. Yeah, he'll get bored of bothering me eventually, she figured as she kept her eyes and ears on the door. Yet she was unconvinced.
The time was 8:10 am when the teacher finally entered the class room, and not in any apparent rush either. Judy stood in her seat to properly see Dr. Castor, a beaver clad in a button up and loose tie, whose entry brought the loud class to a considerable mumbling silence.
The professor began by writing her name, room number, and office hours on the chalk board. Her voice was tired and slightly unimpressed with class, but she had an underrated sense of humor Judy actually admired. She continued by reviewing the class syllabus, assigned a chapter reading, and before Judy knew it she dismissed class a whole forty minutes early.
She wasn't sure if she was more surprised that class ended so quickly, or that the fox had not bothered her for the remainder of it.
As she packed her belongings away in her bag, Judy watched the frat fox disapprovingly as he quickly slipped out of the classroom behind some other students. "Dumb fox," she murmured to herself, shoving her notebook in a bit harshly.
.o0o.
The rest of the day was a fortunate improvement, although her psychology and sociology classes started a few minutes late and ended early like the first. Bellwether was only in her first class, a fact that allowed Judy to socialize with other mammals like she had hoped. Easily she made new friends in each period, some even exchanging Furbooks with her to keep in touch.
By noon she was done for the day and was actually relieved that the first day of the semester wasn't nearly as hardcore as she imagined. Socializing seemed to be going smoothly and for that the bunny was thankful.
Although, if it wasn't for that horrible fox this morning, she may have jeopardized her good standing as a student, let alone her sanity.
(1:16 pm) J: In the Crane Café if you want to meet up :)
Judy texted Bellwether swiftly between sips of a raspberry lemonade.
(1:25 pm) D: Hey! I'm also free. Come find me at the Diversity Centre. Main office!
It was quite a walk from the café to the building Dawn had mentioned, but the young bunny didn't mind it one bit. She was really starting to get the feel of ZU, being in the middle of the fast-paced and sunny campus amongst so many others that weren't the familiar inhabitants of Bunnyburrow. It was refreshing. She curiously watched some mammals playing Frisbee on the lawn, of which she managed to catch the soaring disk and pass it to a thankful horse. Along the way she admired the scattered groups mingling on the benches, mammals napping in tree hammocks, and couples snacking at picnic tables. The buzzing atmosphere was everything she dreamed of and more.
Once she arrived at the Diversity Centre, which was clearly one of the newer buildings added to the campus edge, she entered the lobby and was called over by a reindeer behind the front desk. "ID please?"
"Sure," Judy pulled the ID clipped onto her lanyard and handed it over to the reindeer, who examined it briefly before handing it back. "Where's the main office?"
"Down this hall, can't miss it," he sighed in a bored tone, clicking away at his computer monitor. Judy continued down the hall until she heard the faint sound of a familiar shrill voice.
"Dawn?" She peeked in, and found Bellwether speaking to some other students Judy hadn't met yet.
"Oh, it's Judy! This is my roommate, the one I mentioned," the small sheep smiled as she waved her over to join, and Judy didn't hesitate. "Judy, these are some of the kind mammals I met in my philosophy course today."
"Heya, I'm Mabel," a black sheep greeted, smiling timidly. "I'm a sophomore."
"Hey! I'm Judy Hopps, nice to meet you!" Judy sweetly greeted.
"Oooo, you're so cute," someone squealed, a stocky cheetah behind her to be exact. "I'm Benjamin Clawhauser. Most people just call me Ben though. Nice to meet ya!" He shook Judy's paw.
Judy laughed awkwardly, returning the shake. "Nice to meet you too, Benjamin. But uh, you see, only bunnies can call other bunnies cute. When other mammals do it…" She cringed.
Clawhauser blinked in realization. "O-M goodness! I am sooo sorry, Judy! I haven't actually met many rabbits here in Zootopia, although I'm a junior. So I guess I'm new to bunny manners." He apologized with an embarrassed grin.
"What do you mean, there aren't many bunnies here in ZU at all?" She asked, certainly surprised that the diverse campus wouldn't have plenty of students of every species. But judging from her jog through campus, it only proved his speculation.
He shook his head. "Not really. Uh, well actually there is one other I can think of."
"Sooo I finally signed the papers for making the new club, girl! I think I'm gonna call it Pawlitics and Law club, or PL for short. Too cheesy?" Bellwether gushed in excitement with paperwork in hoof. "But I can't think of a catchier name. Ben and Mabel say they're in!"
"Well, whatcha think?" Clawhauser turned to the rabbit, munching away at a donut he pulled out of a paper bag. "You in?"
"Um," The bunny paused for a moment and replied with a hesitated nod. She didn't really intend on joining the club as a concrete member so soon on, but she wanted to agree just for the sake of staying on good terms with her roommate. "Y-yeah. It's my sorta thing, anyway. It's just…" She fondled her shoulder nervously.
Clawhauser's eyes widened as he examined her closely. "Holy donuts with sprinkles- are you that bunny, from that Furbook livestream last night? I knew I recognized you- you're like a university celeb right now! Everyone's talking about it." He gasped, completely cutting Judy off without really realizing it.
Judy was slightly taken aback by his words but was admittedly flattered. "Wait, really? I guess I have noticed some weird stares today." She thought back on the walk over to the building as Clawhauser nodded furiously.
Dawn giggled, "Sorry Judy, if you haven't picked up on it Ben really likes to stay up to date with all the campus chit chat. You really were pretty awesome confronting those fraternity jerks last night in front of all those livestreaming phones and all."
"I mean sure, if by awesome you mean totally humiliated by that fox," Judy rolled her eyes at the memory but in surprisingly good humor.
"Oh, you mean Nick Wilde?" Clawhauser swallowed his last bite of donut almost forlornly. "He's a bit of a character, one of the predator heart throbs of the campus. Also seems like his status since he joined Alpha Preda last year has gone up judging by all the attention he's getting." He proceeded by sucking the sprinkle dust from his finger pads. "By the way, I'm so so sorry that even happened. But if it makes you feel better, something like that typically happens every year."
"Yeah, really sorry Judy!" Mabel apologized meekly. "Last year they made a weasel sneak into the building with a creepy mask on, nearly scared half of us girls to death."
Judy listened to their words and smiled softly. "It's okay, really. And thanks, I just couldn't stand there and let those jerks laugh without some kind of backlash- I just had to face them head on, even though they still got away with it in the end." She pouted. "I'm still thinking of a way to get back at that fox…"
"Seriously?" Bellwether half laughed, half asked incredulously. "Judy, you're way too good to waste your time on some no-good preds. Take your frustrations out on them by helping PL improve legislation for the school— that way, Alpha Preda won't continue their annual prank tradition."
"You're right, Dawn," Judy agreed smoothly, giving a kind smile although the rebellious gears in her head had already begun churning. She already started mentally guaranteed some kind of payback for Wilde, and there wasn't a chance she was going to let him get away with his antics without some actual consequence.
It was only justice.
"Well let's talk business, when does the club meet?"
.o0o.
Weaselton grumbled as he knocked hard on a wooden door painted olive green, a laundry basket full of dry, clean, folded clothes in his other paw. He waited impatiently for it to swing open and stepped into the abode, dropping the basket off into larger clawed hands.
"Thaaanks, buddy! I see you making your way up the ranks in no time— I'll put in a good word for ya," Nick Wilde thanked in a sardonic fashion, his eyes scrutinizing the quality of the washed clothes as he lifted a pair of boxers for inspection. Even gave them a sincere sniff before smiling down at the weasel. "Perfecto."
"Yeah, yeah," Duke grunted, crossing his arms. "Tell anyone about this—"
"No worries, pal," Nick assured smoothly, a toothy grin growing on his muzzle. "Hopefully Fang's clothes look just as squeaky clean, too. You should consider working room service." Although Nick wasn't sure if the weasel indeed washed Fang's stuff, he just loved to get under a mammal's skin and watch the aftermath, kind of like setting a city on fire and watching it burn from a comfy hilltop. Duke's face twisted and ultimately flashed the fox a strained smile.
"Funny guy," he muttered distastefully before he split from the apartment, and Nick shut the door behind him with an expression of amusement.
"You're pretty ballsy, toying with Duke Weaselton like he's dinner like that," came a low voice from behind the fox. Finnick stood there, in the space between the kitchen and the living room, snacking on some cheese doodles.
"I have no clue what you mean," he shrugged nonchalantly at the smaller fox, lifting the basket again and making his way to his bedroom.
It was probably the case that the newfound publicity was getting over his head. He somewhat recklessly dumped the clothes into semi-empty dresser drawers before shutting them, humming a tune fondly to himself.
It wasn't so much long ago that Nick had been doing the chores for Fang and his right hand man, Griffin the polar bear. Which for the record required a substantial amount of detergent he could barely afford, not to mention how ridiculously long it took to wash clothes fit for a bear. Last semester was an absolute nightmare for the fox but there was no use in reminiscing it; he just appreciated his current status upgrade and the perks that came with it.
There was a distinct ding sound that came from across the messy room. Nick walked over to his bed and lounged forward onto his stomach, taking up his phone charging besides his pillow.
( 8:26 pm) F: Welcome to The Jungle. Friday Night. See you then, Wilde.
A text from Fang. His large black-tipped ears lifted up in pleasant surprise, the bristles of his fur nearly standing up on end on his neck.
This weekend was about to get a lot more interesting.
